Aerial toy



July 10, 1956 H. E. G. TAGGART AERIAL TOY Filed Dec. 21, 1953 INVENTORUnited States Patent AERIAL TOY Howard E. G. Taggart, Long Beach, Calif.Application December 21, 1953, Serial No. 399,243

6 Claims. (Cl. 46-74) This invention relates to a novel toy projectileor aerial toy adapted to be propelled into the air by an elastic band orthe like and which due to its unique construction will descend slowly,rotating during descent and with the parts thereof disposed to simulatea helicopter.

More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide atoy projectile of extremely simple construction composed of a minimumnumber of parts including two vanes which due to their unique shape andarrangement with respect to one another will produce a unique action ofthe toy on descent.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy including a hookmember which functions in conjunction with the launching of the toy andin a unique manner with the vanes as a counterweight during descent ofthe toy.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a projectile typetoy wherein due to the novel construction and arrangement of the vanes,the toy will offer a minimum of resistance to the air during ascent toenable the toy to reach a maximum height when launched with a givenamount of catapulting force.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating presently preferred embodiments thereof, andwherein:

Figure 1 is an edge elevational view showing the toy in the positionwhich it assumes and in the manner in which it is held for launching;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view looking from the right tothe left of Figure 1 and showing the toy as it will appear duringascent;

Figure 3 is an edge elevational view showing the position of the partsof the toy as they will appear during descent;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line 5--5 of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the upperportion of the toy showing a slightly modified form of the hook.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, and first with reference toFigures 1 to 5, the toy projectile or aerial toy in its entirety andcomprising the invention is designated generally 7 and consists of apair of corresponding vanes 8 and 9 and a hook 10.

The vanes 8 and 9 are each formed from an elongated strip of a materialwhich is capable of flexing, such as plastic which may or may notcontain a metallic coating. The strips forming the vanes 8 and 9 taperin width from end-to-end thereof and are creased longitudinally fromend-to-end, midway of their longitudinal edges, as best illustrated inFigure 4, so that each vane includes two angularly disposed sides orsections 11 which merge integrally along the longitudinal crease 12 ofthe vane.

The hook includes a bill portion 13, forming one end thereof, and ashank portion 14 having a distal end which is widened and folded toprovide a clamping sleeve 2,753,657 Patented July 10, 1956 15. Thenarrow ends of the vanes 8 and 9 are clamped in the clamping sleeve 15of the hook 10 immovably relatively to one another and to said hook, andsaid vanes extend from the outer or distal end of the clamping sleeve.Said restricted ends 16 of the vanes 8 and 9 are clamped in slightlyoffset relationship to one another in the sleeve 15, so that the vanes 8and 9 are laterally oflfset with respect to one another, as bestillustrated in Figures 2 and 4. Further, the vanes 8 and 9 are clampedin the sleeve 15 so that their convex or ridged surfaces are adjacentlydisposed and so that their concave or grooved surfaces are remotelydisposed and face outwardly, as seen in Figures 3 and 4.

The toy projectile 7 is preferably launched or catapulted into the airby means of an elastic band or strand 17, the ends of which may besecured to the two furcations of any suitable yokelike frame such as isemployed in a slingshot, not shown, and the intermediate portion ofwhich elastic strand 17 is engaged by the bill 13 of the hook 10, asillustrated in Figure 1. With one hand supporting the elastic strand 17above the toy 7, the free ends of the vanes 8 and 9 are grasped betweenthe thumb and index fingers, as by gripping two of the substantiallyparallel sides or sections 11 of the vanes between the thumb and indexfinger. The toy 7 is then pulled downwardly to stretch and tension theelastic strand 17 after which the fingers are released from engagementwith the vanes 8 and 9. When this occurs the toy 7 will be catapultedupwardly into the air.

The creases 12 of the vanes 8 and 9 will maintain said vanessubstantially straight during ascent of the toy, so that the toy willappear as illustrated in Figure 2 during ascent. Accordingly, thecreases 12 will resist fluttering of the vanes 8 and 9 to thus minimizewind resistance thereon to cause the toy to ascend to a maximum heightrelatively to the amount of force imparted thereto in the launchingthereof. It has been found that the toy may be launched to altitudes ofapproximately 300 feet in the aforedescribed manner with littledifiiculty.

As the launching force of the strand 17 is spent, and as soon as gravitydescent of the toy commences, the weight of the hook 10 will cause thetoy to commence to overturn from its position of Figure 2. The two vanes8 and 9 form airfoils and the air impinging thereagainst causes saidvanes to spread apart. Additionally, the air striking the concave andconvex surfaces of the vanes 8 and 9 will cause the toy 7 to revolveclockwise as viewed from above and as indicated by the arrow 20 duringdescent. The hook 10 will swing outwardly by centrifugal force due tothe rotation of the toy 7 and one of the blades or vanes will assumenearly a horizontal position opposite to the book 10 forcounterbalancing the weight of the hook. It has been found that eithervane may assume this horizontal position as illustrated by the vane 8 inFigure 3. Said substantially horizontal vane 8 will be disposedsubstantially straight with its concave side facing downwardly. Theother vane 9 will assume substantially a vertical position above thehook and vane 8 and will be flexed substantially toward its concave sideand away from the vane 8.

Due to the rigidifying effect of the longitudinal crease 12, plus theaction of centrifugal force, the vane 8 will not flex upwardly past asubstantially straight line position relatively to the book 10, sincethe crease 12 thereof will resist such flexing of the vane. However, thevane 9 flexes readily toward its concave side and will normally maintainits substantially vertical position, as illustrated in Figure 3,throughout the descent of the toy and since the vane in this positionoffers the least resistance to air. The toy will revolve substantiallyabout the vane 9 as an axis in the direction indicated by the arrow 20with the vane 8 revolving in an arc around the vane 9. Thus, the

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toy 7, during descent, will very realistically simulate the appearanceof a helicopter.

In order to obtain best results it has been found that the weight ofeach vane 3 and 9 will be approximately equal to 85 per cent'of theweight of the hook 10' so that either vane may properly counterbalancethe weight of the hook during descent of the toy and so that the parts8, 9 and 10 will be in substantially the positions as illustrated inFigure 3 during descent.

Without the longitudinal creases 12 of the vanes 8 and 9, the operationof the toy, as previously described, will not occur. Additionally,unless the vanes are offset as illustrated in the drawing and aspreviously described, the maximum airfoil effect will not be obtained bythe vanes without which and the resulting rotation imparted to the toyduring descent, the relationship of the parts as illustrated in Figure 3will not be fully obtained. The lateral offsetting of the vanes providesa pitch to the vanes which functions both to maintain the vanes closetogether to prevent fluttering during ascent and to force the vanesapart during descent of the toy. The two sides or sections 11 of eachvane or blade 8 and 9 form an angle greater than 90 and preferablysomewhat less than 135, as illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 6 illustrates a slightly modified form of the hook, designatedgenerally 10a, having a much longer shank portion 14a which is foldedback upon itself twice. The restricted ends 16 of the vanes 8 and 9 areclamped between the intermediate fold 18 and the outer fold 19 of thehook shank, said vanes extending from said clamping folds 18 and 19 in adirection away from the bill 13a of the hook 10a.

Obviously, the vanes 8 and 9 may be formed of various materials whichwill normally maintain their shapes When creased longitudinally, yetwhich are capable of flexing outwardly with respect to one another andtoward their concave or grooved sides. Likewise, the toy 7 may be madein various sizes so long as the relative weights of the parts aspreviously set forth are substantially maintained.

Further, any suitable launching means may be employed for catapultingthe toy into the air.

It will be noted that the hook 10 or 10a has a triple function in thatit provides a means for attaching the toy to a launching element, formsa clamping means for connecting the vanes 8 and 9 in proper relationshipto one another, and additionally constitutes a counterbalancing meansfor one of the vanes during descent of the toy.

Various other modifications and changes are contemplated and may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit. or scope of theinvention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A toy of the character described comprising a pair of elongated vanesformed of a material capable of flexing, said vanes being longitudinallycreased, a hook having a bill portion constituting one end thereof and aclamp portion constituting its opposite end, complementary ends of saidvanes being clamped in the clamp portion of said hook and extendingtherefrom in a direction away from said bill portion, said hooksupporting the vanes with the convex or ridged sides thereof adjacentlydisposed, said vanes being clamped to the hook with the longitudinalaxes thereof laterally offset relative to one another.

2. A toy as in claim 1, each of said vanes being of a weight slightlyless than the weight of said hook.

3. A toy as in claim 2, the two longitudinal sides or sections of eachvane forming an angle with one another of approximately 4. A toy of thecharacter described comprising a pair of elongated strips of arelatively flexible material, said strips tapering from end-to-endthereof and being creased longitudinally from end-to-end and midway ofthe side edges of the strips, means clamping the restricted ends of saidstrips together with the convex or ridged sides of the strips facing oneanother, said strips forming airfoils or vanes and said clamping meanshaving an inwardly opening hook portion at an end thereof located remotefrom the vanes, said vanes being secured together with their creases inlaterally offset relation to one another, said creases divergingrelative to one another from said clamping means toward the wider freeends of the vanes.

5. A toy as in claim 4, said clamping means extending only a shortdistance, relative to the length of the vanes, beyond the restrictedends of said vanes to form a counterbalancing weight for one of saidvanes during gravity descent of the toy.

6. A toy as in claim 5, the weight of each vane being slightly less thanthe weight of the clamping means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,793,831 Worden Feb. 24, 1931 1,852,307 Jacobs Apr. 5, 1932 2,621,441Worden Dee. 16, 1952. 2,667,352 Sepersky Jan. 26, 19,54

